


Arts and Crafts

by olliolli_oxenfree



Series: bullinquisitorweek [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dragon Age Quest: Tough Love, F/M, Love Confessions, my favorite quest of the game, nat. the three others involved with this quest are here but not long enough to deserve a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-23 18:39:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8338429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olliolli_oxenfree/pseuds/olliolli_oxenfree
Summary: Day four of Iron Bull x Inquisitor Appreciation Week:Necklace Of The KadanKendra goes in for a chair and comes out with a necklace.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The full title of this fic is "Arts and Crafts with Inquisitor Trevelyan".

Kendra paced the gardens. She’d come for a game of chess with Dorian, but had forfeited their match after a few turns. Restlessness had dodged her heels from the moment she woke. While she might normally pass such a day in the tavern, her usual drinking buddies were busy. Blackwall had taken it upon himself to help Cullen with recruits, Bull was with the Chargers in the Hinterlands, and Sera had found a few friends that had made it to Skyhold.

_“Not Friends friends, just friends. Wanna see what they’ve been up to, yeah?”_

Yeah. And now she was one down against Dorian. Cullen would never let her hear the end of it.

“Do come inside, dear,” Vivienne stood in the doorway to Skyhold’s hall. “The weather’s far too chilly to remain out long.”

That was odd. Not odd that Vivienne would express concern for her. Odd that she would use it to disguise something else. Even if their views didn’t match up, they’d always respected each other with honesty. Odd that she’d be the one to seek Kendra out, too.

Dorian, though, he’d do it. He stood in the hall, out of sight until she was in the door frame. She had to admit: Of all the people in Skyhold she thought to ambush her like this, those two had made it pretty far down the list. “Forget something?”

“One would think. There I am, halfway through the first invasion of Tantervale and when I look outside what do I see? The Inquisitor, apparently having forgotten where _inside_ is.”

“And you brought Vivienne because…?”

“Our dear Dorian was merely concerned for your well-being, darling. I thought you might be the best one to explain to him that leaves changing color in the south is quite normal.”

Kendra gaped at him. “Are you... _mothering_ me?”

“Yes, if you must know.”

“You— I can’t _believe_ — _I take back my forfeit._ ”

“Yes, yes, and a truly devastating loss it is when we had only moved pawns. Now come in and close that door before there’s a draft. I’m sure you’ll find something to keep yourself busy.”

She rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Am I being sent to my _room_?”

“Why do you think I fetched Vivienne?”

That son of a…

She went to the Undercroft. Earlier in the day she’d tried letters and poisons to keep her still. Neither had worked. There was always something going on at the forge. If nothing else, a change of company might do her some good.

“Hey there!” Dagna greeted cheerfully, “Good news. Look what finally made it!”

Kendra dashed to the wall where they lined the dragon skulls. _Lined_ may have been a bit presumptuous. They only had the two. Three, now that the skull of the Northern Hunter had been placed with the others.

“She’s _beautiful_ ,” Kendra breathed.

“Yup! Really motivates you, having them stare you down while you work.” Harritt’s grunt made it clear Dagna was the only one who thought so. “Shame no one else can see them, though. Harritt was saying when they brought her in that they might be put to better use where everyone else can see them.”

Like watching half the Orlesian nobility try not to wet themselves when they entered the judgement hall. _That_ would be worth fighting every damn dragon she found.

“...What if we made one into a throne?”

“ _Ooh_ , I like the way you think! The top of the mouth could be the back. Just set it on its end and you’re good to go.”

They’d need something else for the seat. It would send the wrong message if it looked as though she were sitting _in_ the jaws. “What if we made the throne out of its teeth?”

“Hold on! I want to get this down!”

Kendra walked between the skulls as Dagna scurried for paper. Dragons weren’t very fatty. The bones were just as imposing lying there as they’d been covered in scales and spewing fire. She moved along the back of the Abyssal High Dragon, running a hand along its horns. Cole was right. They _did_ look like Bull’s.

She knelt at its side. Its teeth were unlike any she’d seen. Sharp with only the slightest bit of curve, as short as her pinky and as large as her arm. Maker, she _fought_ that. Kendra counted down the rows of teeth. On the opposite side, she found it. As long as the length of her hand and wide enough to fit her palm. She gave an experimental tug to see if it was loose.

“Want to use that one?”

“ _No!_ No, uh…the horns would be facing the wrong way. They should be pointed at the entrance.”

“Perfect!” Dagna cackled. “Let’s talk about how these bones should look, and we’ll see which one you like.”

Of the three they had, it would have to be the Northern Hunter. The horns of the Ferelden Frostback were too long for any semblance of practicality. It _would_ look pretty neat, the horns curled up to frame her seat. The throne itself couldn’t be made entirely out of teeth. Instead they would have to form the frame.

“What if we used the hide as the upholstery?”

“Do it.”

After several hours, Kendra had the perfect throne.

“We can’t make it a priority...” Unfortunate, but saving the world probably came before furniture. “...but we’ll start on it as soon as we can.”

Before she left, she pulled the tooth of the Abyssal free. She hefted it in her palm on the climb to her chambers. Nice weight. Sturdy. Easy to catch when she tossed it a couple times. Of course, it would be different once split in ha—

What was she _doing_?

* * *

Kendra returned the Undercroft over the following days. Most of her reasons were actual Inquisition business. Like which runes she could add to her weapons now that she managed to keep her clothes from burning when they lit on fire. In the end she dropped the pretense and asked Dagna to help her make the necklace.

“Obsidian. Ooh, and we can add details!”

“I need them to be equal halves.”

“Easy!”

She sprawled across her bed that night, mind buzzing. Bull had dropped a comment _once_ about an old tradition and here she was scrambling to meet it. Just how ancient was this practice, anyway? Dragons hadn’t been back for fifty years yet. The Qun didn’t even have notions of love. If anything it would be a connection between lifelong friends, soldiers who fought better together than with anyone else. Maker’s ass what was the _point_ of luring in—

This was why she had lured a High Dragon.

She’d been fucking him for less than a _month_ and she killed a dragon for him to make a necklace.

Qunari didn’t do love.

_He’s Tal-Vashoth._

Damn it.

When the necklace was finished, she did the mature thing and hid it under the bed.

* * *

As it happened, a few things made her decide that giving him the damn thing might not be so bad. Said things being the Orlesian Wardens nearly succumbing to Corypheus, falling into the _fucking_ Fade (much to _someone’s_ delight), a _twenty foot tall_ fucking _spider_ , discovering it was as cathartic for her to hit something as it was for Bull to get hit, and waking in a cold sweat so many nights in a row it made her reconsider her stance on amnesia.

Really, the only good thing to come of the entire fiasco was that now she had proof Andraste wasn’t involved in saving her life.

And the Grey Warden allies. That too.

Even so, she was shocked when Crestwood’s Mayor thanked her for enlisting him.

“He said he was _honored_ ,” Kendra answered Leliana’s inquiry.

“Ah. The Fifth Blight was not so long ago. Fereldans still view the Wardens as heroes. When she was rebuilding the order, the Hero of Ferelden was able to fill the ranks based on the reputation of two Wardens alone. It is a shame she was not at Adamant.”

“You’re sure?”

“The Fereldan Queen in Orlais? We would have heard of it before you went.”

Fair enough.

She took the necklace with her to the tavern that night. Not with the express intent to give it to him, but rather to see if things _felt_ differently with it so nearby.

Trust Cullen to walk in on them.

_Again._

Josephine and Cassandra were a surprise.

“Ahem.” All three turned their eyes on her. Cullen hid his face behind his report. He shot a couple glances around it, as though trying to maintain a sense of propriety while he wiped what he was seeing from his memory. Forgetting was overrated. “Can I _help_ you?”

“It can wait!”

“It most certainly cannot.” Kendra arched her brow as Cullen made _shh_ -ing motions at Cassandra. This should be good.

It was, in a way. Somehow despite their lack of subtlety Cassandra had never cottoned on. It only worried her what important things may have slipped the Seeker’s notice. Her being a _Seeker_ and all.

“Is there a problem?”

“No.” Cullen kept his face completely covered to avoid looking at her.

“ _Is_ there something I can help you with?”

“No!”

“Nothing that can’t wait.”

“Farewell, Inquisitor.”

Kendra stuck her tongue out at the closed door.

“You alright, boss?”

For once, she took a moment to consider her answer. No worry about who they might run off to tell. Some indignation at having her tits out, but growing up with eight siblings taught her to get over _that_. She flashed him a grin. “I am, actually.” The speed at which the next words tumbled out of her mouth made any self-reflection she’d done meaningless. “Have something for you, though.”

Why not?

She bent down and opened the box. Her explanation died on her lips when she saw his expression.

Oh shit.

There was no talking her way out of the fact she _made_ the necklaces, but she could change what she meant to do with them. She had it half out that she was giving both pieces to him and one was for him to give to whomever when he interrupted. At the first syllable she knew she had fucked up. She _had_ misinterpreted their closeness. So _what_ if she was able to relax around him enough to silence the part of her brain that always whispered of treachery? Nearly all of their activities she did with Sera, minus the sex. And the sleeping in the same bed and having someone there to hold her when the nightmares were too much and _oh Maker she was about to lose it_ damn it _why didn’t she ever_ think _Qunari_ don’t do love—

He didn’t say their watchword.

“ _Kadan_.”

“...What?”

Bull had called her that before. Once after killing the Frostback and during the worst-tasting round of drinks she’d had in her life. Most recently when she'd been poisoned during a wyvern fight and he carried her back to camp with a stream of words to keep her conscious. A few inconsequential times between then. She never thought to have it translated.

It meant heart. _His_ heart.

His lips were soft on hers as he looped the necklaces around their necks.

She was awake when he fell asleep. Kendra lifted herself slowly, inching over to lay her head on his chest. His pulse was beneath her ear. Strong. Steady. Familiar. Refuge in and from a world that was determined to tear itself apart. _Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum_.

_Kadan_.

Yeah.

She could be that.


End file.
